Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Mid-Career Marketers Use Internal Podcasts to Get Promoted
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this quiet career lever I keep seeing in mid-career marketing circles that nobody really talks about in public. It's the internal company podcast. Luna: Internal podcast? Like, not public-facing, just for employees? Lucas: Exactly. And I've got a specific case. There's a senior marketing manager named Jen — works at a mid-sized SaaS company, about 400 employees. She launched a monthly internal podcast where she interviews product managers, sales leaders, even the VP of engineering. Nothing fancy — just a Zoom recording, 20 minutes max, distributed via a Slack channel. Luna: And what happened? Lucas: Within 11 months, she got promoted to director of marketing. And when I asked her what made the difference, she said it wasn't any single campaign or metric. It was the internal podcast. Because suddenly, the C-suite knew who she was, but more importantly, they saw her ability to synthesize complex product and sales conversations into a coherent narrative. That's exactly what a director-level marketer does. Luna: I can see that. But isn't it a big time commitment? Producing a podcast episode every month — even a short one — that's editing, show notes, distribution… Lucas: That's the thing — she kept it absurdly simple. No editing beyond a basic noise reduction. She recorded on her laptop, used a free tool to trim the beginning and end. No show notes. The whole process took her about two hours per month. She didn't overthink it. Luna: So the bar was just… doing it. Not doing it perfectly. Lucas: Right. And I think that's the insight. Most marketers over-engineer internal communication — polished newsletters, fancy slide decks. But a podcast forces you to be conversational. You can't hide behind bullet points. When you're interviewing a product manager about a feature launch, you have to actually understand it well enough to ask follow-up questions. That's a visible intellectual effort. Luna: And it builds what people call 'sponsorship' rather than just mentorship. Mentors give advice. Sponsors put your name in the room when you're not there. An internal podcast is basically a recurring invitation for senior leaders to hear you think on your feet. Lucas: Exactly. Jen told me that after her third episode, the VP of sales pulled her aside and said, 'I finally understand what the marketing team is trying to do.' That's not something you get from a newsletter. There's a warmth to audio. Luna: I want to ask about analytics. How do you measure whether anyone's actually listening? Internal podcasts don't have download numbers like public ones. Lucas: Great question. In Jen's case, she used Slack emoji reactions. She'd post the episode link with a simple question: 'What's your takeaway?' Then she tracked the number of thread replies. She also ran a quick anonymous survey after six episodes — asked people to rate the podcast on a 1-to-10 scale and suggest future guests. She got a 40 percent response rate and an average score of 8.2. Luna: That's actually solid data for a promotion packet. 'Launched internal podcast, achieved 40 percent employee survey response rate, NPS equivalent of 82.' Lucas: She put that exact metric in her director-level promotion packet alongside her campaign results. She framed it as 'cross-functional communication initiative.' And honestly, that's a category a lot of marketing directors overlook. They focus on external metrics — lead gen, pipeline influence — but internal visibility is what gets you the seat at the table. Luna: So what's the minimum viable setup for someone listening who wants to try this? Because I can already hear the objections: 'I don't have a co-host,' 'I don't have editing skills,' 'My company won't approve.' Lucas: First, you don't need a co-host. Jen did solo interviews. But if you can get one executive to co-host — even just one episode — that builds instant credibility. Second, use a tool like Descript or even just Zoom's built-in recording. No fancy editing. Third, you don't need permission. Just do it. Call it a 'cross-departmental learning series.' Nobody says no to that. Luna: So start small. Pilot episode. One guest. Share it in a dedicated Slack channel. See what happens. Lucas: Exactly. And measure two things. First, listenership — how many people actually consume the episode. That could be Slack reactions, survey responses, or even a simple poll. Second, follow-up questions. Are people engaging with the content? Are they asking the guest's advice after the episode? That's the real sign of impact. Luna: And if nobody listens? Then you've invested maybe two hours and you know that format doesn't work for your culture. No harm. Lucas: Right. Low risk, high potential upside. And honestly, if you've been in marketing for five-plus years and you feel like you're doing great work nobody sees, this is one of the lowest-friction ways to change that. Luna: I think the reason it works is that audio forces you to be clear. You can't rely on formatting or visuals. You have to actually explain something well. And that's a skill that translates directly to leadership communication. Lucas: Yeah, Jen said the same thing. She told me that after a few episodes, she noticed she was speaking differently in meetings — more structured, more confident. The podcast was basically a practice room for executive presence. Luna: That's a really concrete benefit. And I love that it's something you can start tomorrow. No budget approval, no software purchase. Lucas: Exactly. And if today's conversation sparked an idea that's actually useful to you — maybe you're thinking of launching your own internal podcast — and you felt like it was worth a coffee, we have a link. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Support like that lets us keep these conversations ad-free and focused on real, practical insights. Luna: Yeah, it genuinely helps. And it's a small way to say 'this was valuable' without any pressure. Lucas: So back to the practical checklist. Step one: identify your first guest. Ideally someone from a department you don't interact with much — product, sales, customer success. Step two: record a 20-minute conversation. Three questions max. Step three: share the audio file in a public Slack channel with a one-sentence summary. That's it. Luna: And if you want to get fancy, you can add a short written recap — but Jen didn't even do that. Lucas: She didn't. And she still got promoted. So the bar is truly just showing up and being curious. The medium itself does the heavy lifting. Luna: I think there's also a network effect. Once you've interviewed the VP of product, they now know your name. You have a built-in relationship for future projects. Lucas: Big time. Jen said her podcast guest list became her internal network. When she needed a sponsor for a campaign, she could reach out to someone she'd already had a meaningful conversation with. It greased the wheels. Luna: So the internal podcast isn't just a promotion tool — it's a relationship-building tool. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the deeper insight. A lot of mid-career marketers focus on building external personal brands — LinkedIn, conferences, guest posts. And those are valuable. But the internal brand is often more directly tied to your next promotion. Your boss's boss doesn't follow you on LinkedIn. They do listen to Slack messages and attend all-hands meetings. Luna: And an internal podcast puts you on their radar in a way that's almost impossible to ignore. Lucas: Right. So if you're a marketing manager or senior manager looking for that next step, I'd seriously consider this. It's low effort, high visibility, and it builds exactly the skills that get you promoted. Luna: I'm actually going to try this. I've been thinking about how to get more cross-functional exposure, and this seems like a natural fit. Lucas: Great. And if you do, let us know how it goes. We might do a follow-up episode with listener stories. Luna: That'd be fun. Alright, that's a wrap for today. Thanks for listening.